


These Quiet Motions

by ontheindigo



Category: Stargirl (TV 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode Fix-it, Episode: s01e10 Brainwave Jr., Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, henry and courtney only got to be cousins for about ten minutes and thats a crime, i am ignoring henry's death because i can and because I say so, so i am fixing it!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:07:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25483660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ontheindigo/pseuds/ontheindigo
Summary: Henry doesn’t want to turn into his father, he doesn’t want to be evil, and right now, most presently, Henry doesn’t want to die.
Relationships: Henry King Jr. & Courtney Whitmore
Comments: 2
Kudos: 63
Collections: The Gen Sub Hub





	These Quiet Motions

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be only 500 words, but then it kept growing and growing, and then plot kept happening, and well, here we are.
> 
> \- Just to note, I don't know anything about the comics, so this is purely fueled by my knowledge from the TV show
> 
> \- Summary changed on 8/19/20

Henry can see his father looking him dead in the eyes, and he’s seen that look before. He’s just never seen it used on himself. It’s his ‘I’m going to do whoever it takes’ look, and he’s never liked it, never liked the idea of ‘whatever it takes’ because even back then, before he knew that his father had powers and that he, in extension also had powers, he’d known that the look meant something big and dark and deadly. He just never thought it meant death, especially in regard to himself.  
  
Henry doesn’t want to die. Especially at the hands of his father because he will never join him. _Never_. He’s starting to turn over a good leaf, starting to see the good in people. He doesn’t want to die just as it happens, he doesn’t want to die just as he finally sees and finally knows that maybe people aren’t as awful as he’s always thought, that maybe he can become better than he thinks. He doesn’t want to die just as he finds family in Courtney. They’re only cousins, but she doesn’t want to kill him, and she isn’t dead, so Henry thinks that that’s possibly the best he’s going to get when it comes to family. And to die just as he finally finds that? That would be cruel, and he doesn’t want to die. He doesn’t want to die  
  
he doesn’t he doesn’t he doesn’t _he doesn_ _’_ _t_.  
  
And he doesn’t intend to.  
  
It shouldn’t be as simple as that, but suddenly he’s overcome with this determination to not die here, to not be killed by the likes of his father. He doesn’t know much about his powers, but what he does know, he pushes out as much as he can. He hears someone yelling, he thinks it might be him, but he can’t stop now, he has to keep focusing. If he doesn’t, his father will get what he wants, and, god, Henry’s never wanted to spite his father more.  
  
He gathers rocks and stones up from the floor, the biggest ones he can muster, and spins them around until they’re flying directly at his father. His dad stops them, but Henry just keeps pushing, and pushing, and pushing, and pushing and-  
  
It gives, and there’s a loud slashing sound behind him, of Yolanda getting through the bars, and a golden light from Courtney, using her staff to shoot a beam directly at his father  
  
The force field his father put around them must have dissipated, and Henry wants to run because he can now, but he just keeps looking at the way both the rocks, and Courtney’s light hit his father, the way they slam into his chest, the way he falls backwards, the way his eyes were wide in surprise before he fell, and now they’re blank, and they’ve been blank before, but this blank feels serious, feels permanent.  
  
Did he...?  
  
His brain is going a mile a minute and he can’t seem to focus on anything, his eyesight is going blurry and he feels like panicking.  
  
Because did he...?  
  
His breath is going fast, yet for some reason he can’t seem to breathe, his hands are shaking, and they can’t seem to stop, and he can’t seem to stop. and he just wants it to stop.  
  
but it wont, and it won’t, and it won’t, and it won’t and  
  
Someone grabs his arm, it’s urgent and they’re tugging, but he can’t seem to tear his eyes away from his father’s body either because that’s urgent too. Maybe if he looks hard enough, then his father will breathe again, then he won’t be responsible for the thing he’s trying his hardest not to think about.  
  
That person tugging his arm, tugs harder. He can hear parts of what they’re saying, but the majority of it is buzzing. He reaches a hand up to his ear, only to pull it back once he feels blood.  
  
oh.  
  
_oh_.  
  
That isn’t good. That isn’t good at all.  
  
He’s bleeding but the thought seems distant, just like everything seems distant right now. He feels like he's floating. like everything is simultaneously too real, and not real enough. The tugging on his arm is grounding though, he leans into it.  
  
The person pulling, he notices is Courtney. She no longer has to pull because he’s following. Her presence is grounding and he wants to follow that, he needs to be somewhere he can think.  
  
He looks back once more, and he thinks, possibly, maybe, that he sees his father’s chest rise and fall. He can’t be sure, his brain is cloudy, but he can’t focus on that right now, he has to keep running or else he’ll do something stupid like turn around and cry over the body of his father he might’ve killed.  
  
He’s running, as fast as he can, even though he feels a bit like tipping over and passing out at any given moment. More than anything, he just wants to get out of these tunnels the air in them is stuffy, almost suffocating. it smells metallic, like iron, like blood. Or maybe it isn’t the place, maybe it’s him, maybe the blood smell is coming from him, and that alone makes him want to kneel over and vomit. but he has to keep running, or else he’ll never get up.  
  
Too soon, they come out of the tunnels, fresh air, fresh dirt, fresh everything. It’d be great if he didn’t currently feel half dead. His head is throbbing, but at least the metallic smell of blood has lessened. His head doesn’t feel like it’s been stuffed with cotton. Now it’s just tissue, the transparent kind.  
  
It’s still awful, but it’s better and the relief almost makes him want to start crying.  
  
He just might. Everyone around him is, anyway. Beth is hugging Rick, doing a combination of laughing and crying. Rick is doing that thing where he pretends he isn’t emotionally effected even though he actually is. Henry can tell because his thoughts are sad. There’s an underlying anger there too. Something about a cage and something inside?  
  
Henry quickly turns away trying to look anywhere else, it isn’t any of his business. Plus, no mind reading tonight. he promised Courtney, and she’s the only family member who hasn’t tried to kill him recently, so he owes it to her.  
  
Courtney and Yolanda are hugging too, but there’s a look on their faces, that also feels private, so he looks away.  
  
He seems to do a lot of looking away recently, it’s the decent thing to do, maybe if he doesn’t look at people too intensely, their thoughts won’t push their way into his head, or maybe they still will, he isn’t sure. But it’s a better solution than murder, anyway.  
  
His father’s favorite and only solution, the one he tried to use on his own son.  
  
Suddenly Henry is hit with the realization that his father isn’t a good person. He knew before, but now he _knows_.  
  
His father tried to kill him.  
  
Who else can say that? His father tried to kill him, but he didn’t succeed. Instead Henry killed his father. and suddenly Henry can say with utmost sincerity that he isn’t a very good person either.  
  
He murdered someone. And that isn’t even the worst part, yes, he murdered his father, but what he did to Yolanda was so much worse.  
  
He ruined her life, and he didn’t even say sorry.  
  
There’s an aching in his chest, it’s dull, but it feels so, so awful. Henry feels guilty, and he has ever since that day, but now the guilt is overwhelming. It feels a little like dying. Like Henry is drowning in his own mistakes and this is the one that finally kills him. His father couldn’t do it, but what he did to Yolanda sure could.  
  
He has to apologize to her, and she doesn’t have to accept, but he has to make an effort.  
  
He walks over to Yolanda and Courtney who have long since stopped hugging and are now only talking. He doesn’t want to interrupt, but if he doesn’t apologize now he never will. Because Henry is something of a coward, even though he’s trying not to be.  
  
“Yolanda, can I talk to you, alone?” he says, voice quiet.  
  
They both turn to him, Courtney’s eyes are a lot more friendly than Yolanda’s even though they still have some concern in them. Henry can’t tell if the concern is for him, or her friend. Maybe for the both of them.  
  
Still, Courtney leaves. She joins her other friends, Rick, who immediately gives him a death glare, and Beth, who only looks worried. Henry thinks it might be unnecessary though, he’s worried enough for the both of them.  
  
“What do you want?” Yolanda’s voice is tough, it’s rock and steel combined, immovable. He feels a little bit paralyzed by the sound of it.  
  
“I want to apologize.” He says, and it sounds weak even to his own ears.  
  
“Really? Okay, I don’t accept,” She turns to leave, and he’s tempted to let her, but he has to apologize first, and that wasn’t an apology.

“Wait, I just- one minute, can I have one minute?”  
  
She stops and looks at him reluctantly, he must look miserable enough for her to stay. he miserable, the ache in his head is only getting worse, but he can't back out now. He _can't._  
  
“Fine, go for it,” she crosses her arms, “Apologize.”  
  
Henry didn’t think he’d get this far, and isn’t entirely sure what to say. ‘I’m sorry, I’m a terrible human being, but now I have powers and can see how my actions affect others, so I’m going to try to be not terrible now?’ God, he’s an awful, awful person, but he can be better. He just needs to think, he just needs to apologize.  
  
It’d be better if he could apologize while not having the worst headache possible, and a terrible ache in his chest, but what other opportunity would he have?  
  
“I’m sorry I ruined your life, I’m sorry I treated you worse than dirt, I’m sorry I ruined everything.” He says, and it’s the truth, but it feels weak somehow. Because yes, he’s terrible. Yes, he ruined her life. What is saying sorry going to do to change that?  
  
“A stunning beginning to a stunning apology, Henry.” she scoffs, looking so angry, and her thoughts are so loud, they’re even worse. “Thirty seconds.”  
  
“No, I just,” he takes a breath, the buzzing in his head is getting louder, but he needs to do this, now. “I’m sorry, I asked you for pictures when I shouldn’t have, I never should have insisted. It was wrong, it was stupid, I was stupid, I still am stupid. and I ruined your life because of it. and- and, and what can I do to fix it, Yolanda? how can- how can I fix it?”  
  
“It’s not that easy, Henry! you can’t just- Henry?”  
  
She’s saying something again, but he can’t focus on it, everything is dizzy, and he thinks he might have fallen over. Maybe he was never standing to begin with.

He touches his stomach where it was aching before, and it feels wet. It hurts so bad, worse than it was before, it feels like there’s a knife in his stomach twisting and twisting further in. But when he looks down, he doesn’t see anything, is he hallucinating? The pain is real, but the knife isn’t. He looks at his fingers, they’re red. Is that… is that blood?  
  
His brain is going a million miles an hour, and everything is fuzzy, and his head hurts so bad, everything hurts so bad. Is he being stabbed right now? Is that aching in his chest, the one that was so dull before, is it killing him? What is this? His father coming back to life to kill him? To get revenge? To kill him where he stands, just as he thought he was getting away?  
  
Or maybe his father isn’t alive, maybe it’s like from when he was in a coma, where he’s half-dead but still trying to talk to his son, except instead of trying to talk to him he’s trying to kill him.  
  
Or maybe, maybe Henry didn’t make it out of the tunnel, maybe he’s still in there, maybe he’s still dying in there at the hands of his father and this is it. He never got to apologize to Yolanda, and he’s going to die here, suffocated by rocks, drowning in dust and dirt, and his own mistakes and, and, and, and-  
  
Someone’s touching him and he moves away, he doesn’t like it, he doesn’t like it _, he doesn_ _’_ _t like it_.  
  
(is that blood?)  
  
The person touching him is probably his father, his father was dead, but now he isn’t. Henry thought his father was dead, but he isn’t. he thought he killed him, but he didn’t.   
  
(he didn’t- he didnt’t mention it)  
  
But if he did kill his father, does that make him a murderer? His father killed his mother? Does that mean murder is in their blood? He wants to be better, but is that even possible? Was it ever?  
  
(why didn’t he say something?)  
  
He was born with these powers, maybe these powers are inherently evil, maybe that makes Henry inherently evil. Did he ever actually have a chance.  
  
(we have to do something! we can’t just-)  
  
He doesn’t want to be evil. He never did. But he’s so tired now, he’s been so tired all day, now he can, he just wants to rest.  
  
His brain is fuzzy and his minds is torn in knots, there’s an aching pain in the back of his skull, and he’s never felt worse than he does now, but for a moment the thoughts of other people in his head are gone. It’s been awhile since he heard himself think. It’s calming to just be, to just exist without anyone else in his head. And with that, he drifts.  
-  
  
it’s quiet.  
  
so, so quiet.  
  
almost blissfully so  
  
he feels almost happy  
  
and isn’t that strange?  
  
he knows that’s wrong  
  
he knows something  
  
happened. something  
  
awful, something  
  
bad. but he can’t  
  
remember and  
  
isn’t that amazing?  
  
isn’t that neat?  
  
he can’t  
  
remember.  
  
-  
  
He wakes up slowly, blinking once, then twice. He determines that something is very distinctly not right. He can’t remember what it is, he feels that he should care more than he does. But well, he can’t remember.

He feels good, better than he has in a while, and well, he can’t remember what he felt like before, but it couldn’t possibly compare to the blissful bubble of silence he’s in right now. Because it's so quiet, and it's amazing! He doesn’t know why he wants to treasure the silence while he can, but he does. The quiet is nice, he couldn’t possibly remember, because well, he can't remember anything, but he doesn’t think he’s ever appreciated the silence as much as he does now.  
  
It's nice, Henry thinks that maybe he loves it.  
  
He’s in a bed, in a room with white walls. As far as he’s concerned, his bedroom doesn’t look like this, in fact, no room in his house looks like this, but well, he can’t remember, so he can't be sure.  
  
He wonders where his dad is?  
  
Maybe he’s somewhere out that door. Henry starts to get up out of the bed, only to fall back down immediately. His body hurts. and his head is throbbing. And well, that isn’t good. It can’t be fixed, he decides.

Henry looks around the room, it looks very medical, and knows his dad doesn’t have any of this stuff. He must’ve been hurt and sent to the hospital; he wonders what he did. Henry hopes his father isn’t mad.  
  
Henry deduces he was probably in an accident, and this is probably the hospital. And his dad is probably out in the hall, signing papers to release him so they can go home and do whatever they used to do, he can’t seem to recall what it was they did, now that he tries. He’s sure it used to be fun though. He’s sure it was okay.  
  
Henry smiles, he has a plan, and now that he has one, and his dad is out in the hall, and things are okay, it wouldn’t hurt to rest for a bit.

He closes his eyes and sleeps.  
  
He must have slept for awhile because the next thing he remembers is the room being significantly darker. There’s someone there, too. she’s blond with really curly hair. She looks worried, he can’t imagine why, he doesn’t know who she is, but there’s something familiar about her. Maybe they go to school together?

She doesn't notice him at first, she's pacing the small room, looking stressed beyond belief, he hopes she's okay. 

Just then he catches her attention, and she hurries over, mouth moving faster than he can catch on to, she's mentioning things he doesn't understand, and it's overwhelming. As he shrinks back, she seems to wilt.

"Oh," She says quitely. "Sorry, sorry, i'm just not used to this. Can i- um, can i get you anything?"  
  
He simply, asks for water, but it ends up sounding more crackly than he intended, his throat is really dry.

“Oh! oh, yeah of course.” She leaves and comes back even quicker with a glass of water, he wonders briefly, if she’s a doctor’s attendant or something, but she looks like she knows him, which would be weird because he doesn’t know her, but then again, he doesn’t really remember much.

  
“So...” She looks awkward, like she doesn’t quite know where to start, or where to sit. She ends up sitting on the arm of the closest chair, clasping her hands together and leaning forward, “What do you remember?”  
  
And that’s quite a question isn’t it? How is he supposed to know what he remembers if he doesn’t know what he forgot? Before he answers, he downs the cup of water, he didn’t realize how thirsty he was.  
  
“I’m not sure. I don’t really know what happened,” Her smile falls a bit and he tries to be more helpful, “You could ask my dad? He can probably help.”  
  
But then her smile turns distinctly into a frown, he feels like he answered wrong. It reminds him of his father, disappointing people just by existing. Henry feels worse, maybe he doesn’t want to see his father again, after all.  
  
“He’s um, he’s busy.” She says, avoiding eye contact.  
  
Whoever she is, she isn’t a very good liar. Still, there’s relief when she says his father can’t come, why is there relief? Henry frowns.  
  
She continues “Do you remember who I am, then?”  
  
His gut instinct is to say ‘No? Should I?’ but that isn’t true. He know who she is, he just can’t place it. She’s important, but how?  
  
“I think so, are we friends?”  
  
There’s a look in her eyes, like she knows more than he ever possibly could, and it makes him want to remember, he wants to _really,_ wants to remember.  
  
Just then he winces, his head hurts again. This time it’s worse. The lights are flickering and it’s making his head hurt worse, and that’s only making the lights worse, and they’re only making his head worse and- and he wants it to stop.  
  
It does, weirdly enough. The lights turn off, the room is pitch dark, he can’t see anything.  
  
“Henry, are you okay? Sorry, sorry, sorry I don’t know what happened, did my staff do something? Or is this a mind thing?-“  
  
Henry, would very much like to work out whatever the hell that meant, but the girl reaches for his hand, probably to see if he’s still there. And then, oh. He holds her hand tight because just as the lights flash back on-  
  
He remembers.  
  
Everything.  
  
And if that isn’t the most depressing statement he’s ever had the displeasure of thinking.  
  
His brain is filled with images of people and places he didn’t remember living, but now suddenly he does. It feels a little like getting electrocuted with knowledge, and it’s the worst feeling he’s ever felt. If this is how his father felt before trying to kill him in the tunnels then he understands why. After feeling so, good, and so kind, and so not like the who he used to be, the worst person alive. Then getting thrown into memories where he realizes he technically is the worst person alive because he killed the only other person worse than him.  
  
His father _. his father_.  
  
“Courtney, oh god, oh god, Courtney. my dad, is he, is he okay? did I kill him?”  
  
He looks over her, and he must look like a mess because she only freaks out for a few seconds over his newly regained memories.  
  
“I don’t know, We- we don’t know.”  
  
“How don't you know? He’s either dead or alive, there isn’t an in-between! Unless, unless, _unless,_ is he in another coma? would his memories be gone again? Would- would that mean I get another chance to make him good or is he just- is he just.” Suddenly Henry’s finding it hard to breathe. That isn’t good.  
  
“Henry!” Courtney says with all the urgency of someone who’s the team leader of a superhero team. Oh god, how could he forget that? “Henry! I need you to breathe, okay? in and out, in and out.”  
  
He doesn’t want to for a second because his dad could be dead, or in a coma, and it could be all his fault. and they’re wasting time, but, but, but- he has to, he has to.  
  
he breathes, and the first breath catches in the back of his throat, and he thinks he’s dying, suffocating in a hospital bed. But he jumps the hurdle, he breathes. and he does it again and again, and suddenly it isn’t so hard anymore.  
  
Henry wants to cry, that was awful, and he never wants to do it again, but later. He can cry later, when his heart feels less like it’s just ran a marathon. Besides, right now he needs answers.  
  
“What do you mean,” He takes a breath and he’s proud of how it’s only slightly shaky, “What do you mean you don’t know if he’s dead?”  
  
“I mean,” she squeezes his hand as if to comfort him, “when Rick, Beth, and Yolanda, went back down, they didn’t see him. Maybe someone took his body, maybe he walked out of his own, we just- we don’t know.”  
  
Henry wants to laugh, but the urge to cry is still there so maybe he’ll do both.  
  
“And if we don’t know if he’s alive or dead, we don’t know if he...” She trails off, but he can put together the pieces.  
  
“We don’t know if he still wants to kill me, we don’t know if I’m in any danger.”

Henry missed five seconds ago when he didn’t know this existed, he missed ten seconds ago when he didn’t know _any_ of this existed. He was happier then; he didn’t know anything and it was great. God, knowledge sucks.  
  
“....Yeah” Courtney looks like she’d rather do anything else than give him the bad news that his father could be out to kill him, and he feels so guilty for it.  
  
Her thoughts aren’t being broadcasted in his head right now, and maybe it’s thanks to the concussion because his brain still feels fuzzy and staticky. He’s never been more grateful to not hear the everyone’s thoughts, but it leaves him wondering.  
  
What does she think about all of this? He was the one who forced them into the tunnels, the one who forced them into the rescue mission, and now, what did they get for it? A father who wants to kill his own son? He can’t even do anything about it because his powers feel wrong, now. They feel broken. All they do is break lights, malfunction and make his head feel like the inside of a stuffy pillow.  
  
He needs to stop thinking like this, he should just go back to beating people up whenever he starts feeling emotions, but he’s trying to be a good person now. Being a good person means not beating people up, it means handling emotions the normal way, instead of repressing them. Which is stupid. It’s so much easier to just punch things instead of crying.  
  
Henry sits up, clenching his fists, “That’s fine, my dad could be plotting to kill me, that’s fine. I just need to go home. and then I can...”  
  
Then he can what? what’s he supposed to do? His father’s probably out to kill him, and the only reason he was lucky enough to runaway was because he had people with him. What’ll happen when he’s all alone? He’s going to die, and the thought terrifies him.  
  
Courtney stands up with an air of certainty, “You aren’t going home, it’s dangerous there! What if he comes back? What’ll you do then?”  
  
“Die, probably,” He says it in a way, that comes across worse than he meant it to, “Sorry,”  
  
“No, no it’s fine. I’m frustrated too,” she’s pacing around the room, radiating anxiety. Henry’s glad his powers are being weird, he doesn’t want any more anxiety than his own.  
  
“But you shouldn’t have to be, it’s my situation, I should have to deal with it by myself.”  
  
Because that’s how he always deals with his issues. His father telling him to suck it up, and that being the end of it. He isn’t sure how to ask people for help anymore. Although, now that is father, his main source of advice is out for blood, preferably Henry’s, does that mean his advice was never actually good? Should Henry start trusting people now?  
  
“But we’re family, remember? Cousins have to stick together.” The smile she gives him is almost as blinding as her staff’s glow. Well, at least he knows where she got the smile from, certainly not his dad.  
  
“And!” She stops pacing, looking all too similar to a lit up lightbulb with the way her blond hair bounces when she turns to look at him, “and you can’t stay at your house because, you know.”  
  
Henry winces ”yes, I know”  
  
“Sorry, it’s just, you could stay with me, right?”  
  
“With you?”  
  
“I mean, and hear me out. but it’s the best place, right? I could protect you,”  
  
“You could protect me?”  
  
“Yes! your mind powers aren’t working and I have powers so, it’s the best option!”  
  
“You have a staff, I wouldn’t say that qualifies as powers, and- and well, how do you know my powers aren’t working?”  
  
“A staff that can help me _fly_. That’s pretty super isn’t it? and well, are they? Are your powers working?” She’s right, his powers have been feeling off, “Look at me, what am I thinking?”  
  
He does look, and he does try, but all he catches are snippets.  
  
(what .. . ..ing .. .. ab... ..i.)  
  
“They aren’t working. Why aren’t they working? Apparently, I can make light flicker, when I’m feeling anxious, but I can’t read your mind? How does that…how does that even work?” he should feel more stressed out than he does, but all he feels is frustrated.  
  
“The concussion? Probably? Your head was bleeding, Henry! That’s scary! And you were stabbed too! That’s messed up, why wouldn’t you tell anyone you were stabbed?”  
  
He wants to say something like, ‘I was so caught up in my guilt for Yolanda, that I thought the aching in my chest was me feeling guilt for the first time in my life, and not a stab wound that my father gave me.’ but his brain gets caught and can’t seem to move past a certain name.

“Yolanda! is she okay?” The last thing he remembers is trying to apologize to her for and passing out. Henry groans, suddenly having very little motivation to do anything. The one time he tries to do the right thing, he passes out from pain.

Being a good person is so difficult, he thinks.

Courtney doesn’t look surprised he asked about Yolanda, “She’s fine, I just think the next time you apologize, she'll want you to wait until after you’re finished to pass out. And she’s right! One moment, you guys are talking, the next you’re on the ground, bleeding from a stab wound in your chest. How does that even happen?”

“I don’t remember getting stabbed. I guess it happened while fighting dad, but I don’t...” Henry trails off, eyes widening, he remembers everything, but it's only now that he's connecting dot. Dots he doesn't want to think about. “Can I- can I tell you something?”

Courtney looks at him seriously, “Of course, I’m brilliant at keeping secrets.”

Henry looks skeptical but continues on, “When I was there, passed out on the ground, you know? After talking to Yolanda, for a moment I thought… I thought I felt my dad.”

She looks surprised. “Your dad? Brainwave? Where, when? I thought he was down in the tunnels?”

Henry knows very little about his father's powers, but he does know that they're dangerous and that there's more to them than he's thought. “He could’ve been down in the tunnels, but I felt him, up here too.” He taps his temple twice with his pointer finger.

“You felt him up in you head? And is that good or bad?"

“It means he’s still alive, at least somewhat."

“Oh no, oh no, oh no…” She groans, “Can you still feel him? Or was it just then?”

“I could feel him then, but I also feel him now,”

“Wait, is he here? Telepathically? I don’t know how it works.”

Henry can hear his breathing getting too fast, too quickly. Courtney reaches for his hand, wrapping it in hers, and it’s grounding.“ You know, The stab wound I didn’t notice? I think it was my dad. But I didn't get it when I was down in the tunnels, I felt it when I was out, when we were away from him. and, and- when he was in a coma, he reached out to me, awakening my powers. If he can do that while he’s in a coma, from a long distance, imagine what he could do if he was alive, if he really set his mind to it, if he really wanted to kill me.”

She breathes out, “No…”

“Yeah… I don’t like this.” He frowns, “I really don’t like this.”

“So your dad was actively stabbing you from a distance, with his _mind_ , and it was _still_ enough to send you to the emergency room?”

"He could've been closer, he could've been following us and stabbed me then," But it sounds fake even to his own ears.

His father is powerful, he knew this, he doesn't know why it's shaking him so much. It's not like it's new information, he knew his father was a murderer, he knew his father wanted to kill him. That stab wound is just a reminder of what his father is capable of, of what his father did, and what he could do. Now he knows his father could quite literally stab him in the back him without even being in the same room, and he might not even notice it was his father doing it until hours later. It makes him fear his father, and it makes him fear his father's powers. 

And most of all, it makes Henry all the more scared of his own powers. He has the exact same powers that his father does, and they’re being actively used to kill him. The only gift his father has ever given him, and he doesn’t even want it. It makes Henry kind of grateful his powers are malfunctioning right now, if this is what they’re capable of, he’s scared that he’ll accidentally do something he regrets.

If all he can do right now is make lights flicker, and hear snippets of his friends thoughts, maybe that’s a good thing, he’s scared to think of what he could do if he were more powerful. Henry wants to be better, but these powers are capable of so much bad, how can he shoulder that?

“So my dad is dangerous,“ Henry summarizes,” And, He’s out to kill me,”

Courtney hums, “All the more reason for me to protect you.”

“I’d be putting you in danger, I couldn’t do that.”

"Where are you going to stay? Your dad knows where you live.” She’s right for the second time that day, and it’s even more annoying.

“I don’t know, I’d find someplace.” He crosses his arm, trying to look as tough as he can in a hospital bed, but it’s hard when he knows he looks pitiful, and there’s probably still blood crusted somewhere on his face.

“Then I’d go with you,” She says simply.

He sputters, quickly forgetting to look any bit intimidating, “What? You can’t do that?”

“Yeah, I can. I’m a superhero. I help the people, and you’re the people. I’m legally obligated to help you.”

“I’m technically a supervillain, I don’t think it applies to me.”

“Your dad’s a supervillain, not you. And if you ever were, you aren’t anymore. You’re good now.”

“I don’t think it’s up to you to decide-“

Although for a moment Henry wishes it were, because more than anything he wants to be a good person. But his powers are evil, his father is evil, everything he’s ever done in the past is bad, bad, bad. And the one time he tries to apologize for it, he gets stabbed with a mind-knife by his father. Maybe the cards are just stacked against him.

“You’re right,” Courtney says, “It’s not up to me, it’s up to you. But I think you already know what you want to be, and it isn’t evil, Henry, it never was.”

Henry sits there for a moment, stunned. He feels rocked, shaken, he feels so, so different. Courtney changed his worldview in one conversation, and Henry is still trying to comprehend how she got so wise. Certainly not from his side of the family. Henry wants to be good, and he’s going to try and it’s as simple as that. It only took being stabbed, but suddenly Henry feels okay again.

“Okay,” He says, and it’s weighted, heavy. It carries so much that he wants to say, but right now all he can really handle is okay.

“Okay,” She says smiling, and she seems to understand how heavy it is to admit, so she doesn’t push. It’s only then that Henry understands the warmth of having family. She continues, “I would protect you anyway, we’re family Henry, I can’t let anything happen to you.”  
  
“We are family,” he sighs, “And the only other family I have tried to murder me, So. Yeah, okay.”  
  
“So we’ll protect each other?”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
Courtney, in all her bright and kind existence, gives him a hug, and it isn’t the first time he’s been hugged by family, but it feels like it.  
  
He smiles. And all day he's been keeping himself from crying, and its only now that he allows himself to.


End file.
